Oxygen free dry hopping - how to remove?

[paddy.odwyer]

Hi there everyone,

I'm hoping for some help on a method to dry-hop oxygen free, INCLUDING removing each dry hop addition after a certain number of days.

I'm planning to brew a NEIPA and really want to nail it in terms of minimising oxygen exposure. I've already figured out a home-spun way to transfer from my bucket fermenter to a purged keg through a gravity+cO2 assisted closed transfer (at a super super low psi), but I haven't figured out the logistics of my dry-hopping, primarily because I can't figure out how to remove the first hop addition after 4 days.

The recipe I'm using (link below) calls for 3 seperate dry hop additions. I think I can get away with just doing 2, slightly bigger additions rather than 3: the first addition after 2 days of active fermentation to benefit from biotransformation effects, and the second towards the end of fermentation. However, the recipe also very specifically says to remove each dry hop addition after 3-4 days, to avoid vegetal off-flavours. I know a lot of people leave their hops in with no ill effects, and that the entire theory on whether you will get vegetal/grassy/green off-flavours at such a small scale is up for debate, but for the sake of this post (and to encourage all of your interesting methods/ideas), I would love to know if anyone has been successful in REMOVING dry hops without exposure to oxygen?

My current plan is to dry hop both my additions through two seperate magnet releases, but that means I won't be able to take them out once they drop, as it would be pretty pointless to go to the effort of doing this "oxygen-free dry hop magnet drop", only to then open up the fermenter and yank them back out after a few days.

Any ideas would be super appreciated, looking forward to your responses!

https://byo.com/article/neipa-style-profile/
Cheers, Paddy.

 

[duncbrewer]

Hi there everyone,

I'm hoping for some help on a method to dry-hop oxygen free, INCLUDING removing each dry hop addition after a certain number of days.

I'm planning to brew a NEIPA and really want to nail it in terms of minimising oxygen exposure. I've already figured out a home-spun way to transfer from my bucket fermenter to a purged keg through a gravity+cO2 assisted closed transfer (at a super super low psi), but I haven't figured out the logistics of my dry-hopping, primarily because I can't figure out how to remove the first hop addition after 4 days.

The recipe I'm using (link below) calls for 3 seperate dry hop additions. I think I can get away with just doing 2, slightly bigger additions rather than 3: the first addition after 2 days of active fermentation to benefit from biotransformation effects, and the second towards the end of fermentation. However, the recipe also very specifically says to remove each dry hop addition after 3-4 days, to avoid vegetal off-flavours. I know a lot of people leave their hops in with no ill effects, and that the entire theory on whether you will get vegetal/grassy/green off-flavours at such a small scale is up for debate, but for the sake of this post (and to encourage all of your interesting methods/ideas), I would love to know if anyone has been successful in REMOVING dry hops without exposure to oxygen?

My current plan is to dry hop both my additions through two seperate magnet releases, but that means I won't be able to take them out once they drop, as it would be pretty pointless to go to the effort of doing this "oxygen-free dry hop magnet drop", only to then open up the fermenter and yank them back out after a few days.

Any ideas would be super appreciated, looking forward to your responses!

https://byo.com/article/neipa-style-profile/
Cheers, Paddy.

You slide the hops into the beer with the magnet still attached, you can wave the hops about in the bag to mix it and then slide it up after.

Picture of dry hops raised after double dry hopping in a sour ipa, cold crashing and during closed pressure transfer.

 

[Grmblz]

^ That's how I do it, just remember to use neodymium magnets, I've found normal magnets aren't always strong enough to support wet hops.

 

[duncbrewer]

^ That's how I do it, just remember to use neodymium magnets, I've found normal magnets aren't always strong enough to support wet hops.

I use neodynium ( from old hard drives ) on the outside and some normal magnets vac sealed on the inside. I secure the magnets in a little stitched pocket in the bag which helps to reduce the dangle.
I have dropped the hops by accident but was able to recatch them at the bottom of the conical.
Further advantage is you can make sure the hops are fully immersed as sometimes they want to float.
Neodynium magnet also good to control the float during transfer.

 

[mynameisrodney]

I used a couple of stir bars on the inside when I did this. Worked well, but it was a pain to get the hopsock back out through the narrow lid of my Chubby fermenter.

 

[paddy.odwyer]

Thanks guys for your tips.

You slide the hops into the beer with the magnet still attached, you can wave the hops about in the bag to mix it and then slide it up after.

Picture of dry hops raised after double dry hopping in a sour ipa, cold crashing and during closed pressure transfer.
View attachment 120818

Thanks for the advice! So do you always just slide the magnets down, meaning the hop bag will always be stuck to the inner side of the fermenter, or can you 'drop the magnet' from the top and then regather them with the strength of the magnets?

 

[duncbrewer]

Thanks guys for your tips.


Thanks for the advice! So do you always just slide the magnets down, meaning the hop bag will always be stuck to the inner side of the fermenter, or can you 'drop the magnet' from the top and then regather them with the strength of the magnets?

I slide them down now
A) it means they get submerged fully and I can swish
B) it can be a faff recapturing ( it was for me ) and my fermenter sits in a wooden ring in the fridge so moving magnet and hop bag up past this meant I had to lift fermenter and slide etc, tricky with no help.
C) If they sink to the bottom of a conical they can get in the way of other chores such as yeast removal and when you lift it they are full of more yeast.

Bit like taking the dog for a walk and letting it off the lead, you've lost control the moment that happens.

 

[paddy.odwyer]

I slide them down now
A) it means they get submerged fully and I can swish
B) it can be a faff recapturing ( it was for me ) and my fermenter sits in a wooden ring in the fridge so moving magnet and hop bag up past this meant I had to lift fermenter and slide etc, tricky with no help.
C) If they sink to the bottom of a conical they can get in the way of other chores such as yeast removal and when you lift it they are full of more yeast.

Bit like taking the dog for a walk and letting it off the lead, you've lost control the moment that happens.

Great, I'm keen to try this when I brew this weekend.